I will protect you
by A-little-fantasy
Summary: Iyari made a promise to Sasuke when his family died that she would protect him, what happens when she follows him and gets herself caught up in Orochimaru's and the Akatsuki's affairs will she stay loyal to the leaf eventual ItachixOC
1. Chapter 1

It was a very quiet night in Konoha, much more quiet than usual, it was too quiet, all the residents stood in the graveyard heads bowed to a plaque in front of them, upon this were the names of all but two of the Uchiha clan. At the front of the group mourning were those closest to the Uchiha's and Sasuke Uchiha, sole survivor of the massacre, which was performed by his older brother Itachi. The large group wept for the clan, all those apart from that sole group, they consisted of members of the ANBU, stood closest to the young Uchiha were Kakashi, Ibiki and a female ninja stood next to the boy by the name of Iyari. After an hour had passed the Cemetery began to empty until only Sasuke and Iyari were left there.

"You know I will always be here for you no matter what, I promise you I will protect you," Iyari looked at the young boy who didn't respond and then turned to make her own way home.

Many years passed since that night and Iyari was preparing herself to be protecting Konoha at the upcoming Chunin exams, currently she was looking over her mountain of notes that cluttered the desk in her cramped room. Sighing she stretched her arms out in front of her and glanced over at her watch briefly, suddenly she looked back at it realising what time it was, she set down her pen and crammed the papers into a small bag before leaving her one roomed apartment. She was making her way to see the Hokage when she crossed paths with Sasuke they greeted each other briefly and then continued on their way. It didn't take long for Iyari to reach the Hokage's office and once inside she saw all the Genin's sensei's inside, she placed the notes out of her bag on the Hokage's desk trying to neaten them up a bit and then stood beside the Hokage.

"Well Iyari, seems you missed all the action," Kakashi said smiling through his mask.

"Let me guess, you want your newbies to enter the Chunin exams? Do you realise how much danger you will be putting them in?"

"We all know, don't forget we've all been there ourselves, besides with you on security what could happen," Asuma grinned.

"There's not a lot I can do when a tasks started you know the rules," Iyari stated. "However I am helping to observe all parts of the exams."

"Why do you not trust us to do a good job?" Anko spat.

"Recent events have caused us to up the security, surely you would know why?" Iyari looked over at Anko plainly who turned and looked towards the window.

"Well anyway Iyari, here are the papers and good luck everyone," the old man smiled before returning to his own paperwork.

The entire group left the room together and each sensei remained quiet until they were a bit away from the Hokage tower.

"What are you playing at?" Anko yelled loudly in Iyaris direction causing them to come to a halt.

"Do not question my actions, I am working on the safety of this village a thing that you clearly do not care for, you ran off with that Snake and caused danger for everyone in this village, not me," Iyari turned to look at Anko. "That curse mark still causes you problems so until that man is dead I cannot rest my case."

"You can't talk you were friends with that bastard Itachi," no sooner had the words left her mouth she regretted it and before anyone could say anything else Iyari took off to the rooftops before Anko could apologise.

"That's different and you know it," Kakashi said.

"I really didn't mean that," Anko said looking guiltily at the floor.

"Then maybe you should find a way to mean an apology, Iyari was only doing her job," Kakashi said before he too left the group.

Iyari stared at her paperwork with blank eyes, what Anko had said hurt her but she refused to show it, but as hard as she tried she knew paperwork was out of the question, her only other option was to train so she got up and gather some equipment before heading out to train.

"Hey Iyari, do you think you could watch me train," Sasuke looked up with eyes pleading to her.

_"Oh go on then Sasuke," Iyari smiled and followed the boy who took her hand and ran to the Uchiha compound many residents waved her way which she returned and eventually they made it the training area at Sasuke and Itachi's house. Iyari sat and watched as Sasuke threw his shuriken at the targets getting a few head on causing her to smile brightly._

_"I didn't expect to see you here," Iyari looked up and saw her closest friend Itachi a faint smile on his face she grinned at him as he dropped down and stood next to her as the pair watched Sasuke._

_"So how's training going?" Iyari asked looking slightly over at her friend._

_"Well, and you?" Itachi replied keeping his eyes on his brother._

_"It's going okay, though Ibiki is tough on me, but I know it will help when I'm older," Iyari smiled._

_"It sure will, hey lets spar sometime when I'm not on a mission?" Itachi asked._

_"You got it," the pair smiled at each other before Sasuke joined them where they stood begging to be picked up by his older brother._

Iyari's kunai hit the bulls eye and she reached for another only to find her pouch empty, she sighed heavily and began to train her taijutsu until she sensed another presence nearby, leaping into the air she attacked the presence only to fall flat on top of Kakashi.

"Oh, hey," Iyari said smiling at him and she scratched the back of her head awkwardly.

"Hello Iyari," Kakashi replied pushing her off him. "Just thought I'd see if you were okay?"

"I'm fine Kakashi it's been long enough for me to get over it," Iyari responded fetching her kunai.

"Iyari don't lie, I'm not stupid you know?" Kakashi said.

"I'm over it Kakashi, Itachi was my closest friend and he betrayed everyone even Shisui," Iyari said beginning to throw her kunai again only to her up catching her finger causing it to bleed.

"You can always tell when your nervous about a topic, you become clumsy," Kakashi said smiling taking the kunai off her and placing them back in her pouch. "You know it is okay to have feelings."

"I know, I just don't want them," Iyari said looking up into the sky. " I often wonder what actually happened to him after her left and why he left Sasuke alive."

"We all do Iyari," Kakashi looked at the same point as she was.

"Sasuke still set on killing him?"

"Yes, you still set on following him?" Iyari shot a glare Kakashi's way. "What?"

"Kakashi, I promised I'd look after him and I always will do," Iyari said.

"I still don't see why?"

" Kakashi I've been close friends with that clan for so many years, he was practically my brother I'm not going to leave him alone," Iyari's reply caused Kakashi to stare at her.

"How do you know what he will turn out like, how do you know he needs you?"

"I don't," Iyaris simple reply cut the conversation off.

"So, I guess I'll see you at the exams right?"

"You know it, see you around," Iyari walked her way back to her flat not looking back at Kakashi who stared at her until she left his sight, when this happened he shook his head and made his own way home.


	2. Chapter 2

Days of paperwork passed until the first few applicants for the chunin exams entered the village, finally Iyari had no more writing to do until after each section of the exams, she smiled to herself as she got the applicants from the sound village to sign their forms. Pretty much everyone was ready for the exams, which would start in three short days, Iyari was hoping that the leaf ninja did okay, but it was always down to chance.

"Well, it seems that's everyone," the Hokage said smiling as he set down his pen and looked up at Iyari. "I couldn't thank you enough for this."

"It's fine, besides with all this paperwork to fill out I'm not bothered about lending a hand," Iyari said packing all her things together.

"I mean for everything, you've helped an awful lot with the running of the village, you could easily just take up the offer of becoming ANBU," Iyari just looked down at her paperwork.

"Maybe, when the time is right I will, but I need to keep Sasuke safe," the Hokage, sighed at her words.

"You need to think about yourself for once," the Hokage stood up and made his way over to her. "You agreed to be part of the ANBU and then declined when you heard Sasuke became a genin and his goal was to kill his brother."

"I know, it just doesn't seem right," Iyari said looking into the Hokage's eyes.

"I know Iyari, now get some sleep and rest up before the exams god only knows they're going to be hard this time," Iyari smiled at him and then hugged him.

"See you around," Iyari waved to him as she left the room and the Hokage sat down in his chair and sighed heavily.

"That girls going to get herself in a lot of trouble."

"You know I will always be here for you no matter what, I promise I will protect you."

Iyari was running round her flat trying to get all of her things together ready for the first chunin exam, she'd previously that day given Sasuke a pep talk which he blatantly ignored, but she hugged him and just reminded him that she'd always be there. She could say a slight smile came to his face but the Uchiha were hard to read that's for sure.

Finally everything was in its place and she put on her official uniform to show her status within the village as a deterrent to those thinking they could ruin the exams, it consisted of button down shirt and dress pants along with her own ANBU symbol located on her back. She clipped up her raven coloured hair and smiled at how formal she looked, it reminded her of the people she saw at her chunin exams and how she wanted to be one of them when she was older. She picked up her bag and leapt out the window to make her way to the academy where the written exam was going to take place, as Iyari had heard there had already been some nuisance caused by the sound and leaf, nothing too bad though.

She went through a back entrance to the academy and sat in a seat next to Ibiki the official mentor for the exam, he smiled at her.

"So, you looking foreword to seeing this years crop?" he asked looking at her through the side of his eye.

"Don't you know it," Iyari was surprised when Ibiki rose up.

"It's time to start these exams," Iyari also got up from where she was sat and followed Ibiki out of the room, we could easily hear all the noises from the room where the genin were kept and Ibiki smirked.

"Alright you babies, pipe down and listen up, I'm Ibiki Morino, and this is Iyari, were your exam proctors and from this moment on we're your worst enemy."

"First you lot from the sound, knock it off no one told you could fight, do you want to fail before the exams even begin," Iyari's voice was clear stern and loud, Sasuke looked up at her having never seen this side to her.

"Sorry it's our first time, guess we're a little jumpy," one of the sound ninja's said, Iyari narrowed her eyes at the group not one of them looked like a very friendly person.

"I'll say this once, there will be no combat between candidates, understood?" the group all nodded.

"Now if were ready we will proceed the first stage of the Chunin exams, hand over your paperwork and in return you will each be given a number, this number will determine where you will sit, we'll start the written test the moment you are seated." Ibiki smirked as a few of the group began to worry knowing it was written.

After about fifteen minutes everyone had taken their seats and were all looking nervously around the room where different proctors stood keeping an eye on them all, eventually Ibiki returned to the front of the room and looked at them all.

"There are a few rules you need to be aware of," Ibiki explained the rules while Iyari observed each individual student, after he had finished the time began and Iyari smirked as she watched the students look down dumbly at their papers, there was no way any of them could answer the questions the whole objective was to cheat.

But no sooner had the test started people were already failing at it, already two teams had left from cheating too many times, Iyari looked foreword to seeing who from the leaf would get through secretly praying that Sasuke's group did, looking over him she smiled knowing he had already figured it out, after a while it seemed all the leaf genin had figured it out it was then that the proctor next to her showed her a number and she grinned looking at the boy. He was sat there very obviously looking at the persons test who was next to him, grinning she flung her senbon needles his way getting them exactly around him cuasing him to stare in shock.

"You fail, your team mates also fail so get the hell out of here," Iyari said watching as the guy very shakily got up and wandered out closely followed by his furious team mates.

Eventually it was time for the last question and the class looked up at Ibiki curiously, he looked down at them all and smiled, Iyari looked at him before whispering in his ear and taking her leave from the room to where the groups sensei were.

"So how are they doing?" Asuma asked looking up at her.

"Now Asuma you know I cant tell you that," Iyari replied looking at the group. "You know what I'm like about rules."

"True, so bet you can't wait to work alongside Anko then," Kakashi's statement caused her to sigh.

"That's girl is too loud," Iyari said rubbing her temples. "She'll make some stupid entrance as per usual and make people think this village is weak."

"Sheesh lighten up Iyari," Asuma said grinning at her.

"Oh shut up you," Iyari looked at him before cracking a smile, suddenly the group heard the sound of kunai and a very loud voice. "Well looks like Anko's here."


	3. Chapter 3

Iyari sighed as she followed the group of genin towards to training ground she knew how hard the task was going to be and even the sensei's knew that the second task was going to filter out a lot of the weaker contestants, the only problem was Iyari knew people would die in the forest, she a had a sickening feeling about what was going to happen in there and for once she wished she could help the genins. Anko looked sideways at her, eyes showing concern for her colleague; it wasn't often that Anko did this being the big mouthed ninja on legs.

"What is it?" Anko murmured to her making sure not to be heard.

"I have a really bad feeling about this exam Anko something is going to happen in there, I can feel it," Anko's eyes shifted to the forest and then she lowered her head.

"Don't worry about it, if anyone tried to cause problems they'll have you to deal with something no one would want to do," Anko smiled before the pair dropped to the ground in front of the gates before all of the genins that were still left.

"This place is creepy," a girl with pink hair called Sakura said quivering.

"It should be this place is called the Forest of death," Iyari said causing the genin to stare at her.

"And soon enough you're going to find out why," Anko added causing the pair to snigger.

"They call it the forest of death and soon enough you're going to find out why," Naruto said mocking the pair. "Do your worst I can handle anything!"

Iyari sighed at his words knowing Naruto he would need all the help he could get, Iruka had talked about him quite a lot on how he was under achieving it was a surprise to her and a lot of people that he was actually taking part in the exams, at one point Iyari thought that Hokage would forbid it but quite obviously not.

"So looks like we've got ourselves a tough guy," Anko said flinging a kunai in his direction causing Iyari to glare at her sternly.

"You need to watch it Anko," Iyari spat causing Anko to stare back at her, sensing someone behind her Iyari turned quickly senbon between her fingers only to find one of the genin.

"I was only returning the knife," Iyari stared at the grass ninja, there was something strange about her, Iyari quickly took the kunai off her before turning back to Anko who was still smiling.

"Seems like everyone here is quick tempered, must be something in the air," Anko said to herself. "This is going to be fun."

"Now before you begin the test there's something you need to fill out, it's just a standard consent form, some of you may not come back from this test this is just the legal requirements, but if you don't feel up to it you can just leave now, this test will need you to use all of your survival skills, you will all receive a map of the area. As you can see there is a forest, a river and in the centre a tower this is where you should aim to be, each team will receive one scroll, you will have to fight other teams each fight has no rules as long as you get the scroll then take both scrolls to the tower." All the genin stared wide eyed at Iyari after she had finished explaining causing Iyari to smirk to herself, it wasn't difficult to understand just the ninja before her were yet to kill, or at least some were, again Iyari eyed the grass ninja.

The ninja all went into their assigned places ready for their gates to open and for the second part of the chunin exams to begin, Iyari's job for the next 12 hours was just to keep an eye on anyone trying to sneak into the exams and then she would leap into the action to keep an eye on the individual ninja's.

_"Alright then genin it's time for the second part of the Chunin exams to begin," the young genin stared up at the man before them, they were in the sand village ready for the chunin exams before them stood a large terrain of which they had to battle through to progress on to the next round._

_"I'm kind of scared," Iyari looked at her team mate Shisui, he grinned at her._

_"If you're scared go home," Iyari's other team mate Kolan glared across, both of them part of the Uchiha clan._

_"Please just stop arguing," of the three Iyari was the youngest having been made to move from her original group to participate in the exams._

_"Now I need you to sign these forms, as you already know people die in these exams…"_


	4. Chapter 4

Iyari jumped from tree to tree through the forest trying to keep an eye on the genin teams already she had come across 3 piles of dead teams, one team belonged to the grass the other two belonging to the stone. Iyari reported the bodies via her headset before continuing on through the forest; unfortunately she came across someone she didn't quite want to see, Orochimaru.

"Iyari run!" looking to her right she saw Anko clutching her curse mark in pain.

"What do you think you're doing here?" Iyari got ready to fight the man who just stood there and laughed causing her to narrow her eyes.

"Iyari right? I often wondered if we would meet," he smirked licking his lips making her shudder. "Itachi mentioned you once or twice."

"Shut up you snake," Iyari gripped her senbon preparing herself. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to give the young Uchiha a little present shall we say," Orochimaru looked over the forest to his right enraging Iyari who threw her senbon pinning Orochimaru to the tree behind him before leaping towards him and holding a kunai to his throat.

"You leave Sasuke alone, you are not taking him from me understand?" Iyari's eyes flashed with anger causing Orochimaru yet again to laugh at her.

"Oh Iyari you think he has a choice he was always going to seek me out, but I guess you can come too," his tongue licked up her cheek and then fell lightly against her neck, in a flash she was thrown against a tree across from them with him tongue choking her. "Don't worry should you come you'll get your mark, and maybe with a new body you could easily be mine."

Orochimaru jumped just as Iyari threw a kunai it managed to embed itself in his ankle which he hissed at, turning round her threw Shuriken in her direction unfortunately having already been light headed to begin with a few hit her and the poison on the tips immediately got into her blood, Iyari growled in pain as Anko jumped down and tried to remove the weapons only to have her hand pushed away.

"You go and tell the ANBU, I have to find Sasuke," Iyari ordered.

"But-"

"Anko go and do as I say if I'm not back within an hour send the team to find me," Anko nodded and then left Iyari who got up and removed the poison tipped shuriken growling in pain, but she got up and leapt in the direction Orochimaru had hinted Sasuke to be in. She smiled happily when she saw the team and that Sasuke was stood up jumping down the group became startled each one throwing a kunai at her which she dodged.

"Calm down you lot, Sasuke are you alright?" Iyari questioned looking at Sasuke's curse mark; he nodded slightly before noticing the blood running down her arm.

"What happened?" Sasuke asked his voice almost a whisper.

"I had a little run in with Orochimaru," Iyari struggled to finish her sentence before she collapsed to the floor in a fit of coughs.

"Iyari!" Sasuke blurted out as he and his team ran towards her.

"I'll be fine just look after yourselves okay, be careful something is going on and it's not going to end well," with that Iyari struggled to her feet and then left.

"How do you know her Sasuke?" Sakura questioned watching Iyari leave.

"She's an old family friend and used to be best friends with my brother," Sasuke replied darkly watching as she disappeared from sight before sighing. "She's a good and loyal ninja to this village."

Iyari knew her time was running out and that she had to get to the medical squad soon before the poison reached a vital organ and her body began shutting down, finally she reached the perimeter and leapt over the fence. As she hit the ground her legs gave way right in front of Kakashi whom stared at her wide eyed,

"What happened?" Kakashi asked as he helped take her to the hospital.

"Orochimaru is what happened he cursed Sasuke, after his first round you're going to have to seal it," Iyari said, Kakashi nodded at her.

"Do you really think that will stop-"

"Kakashi I'm thinking it can buy time," Iyari looked down; eventually the pair arrived at the hospital where she was greeted by many different doctors that started to treat her.

She couldn't help but feel lucky to have come out of the hospital just before Sasuke's match was about to start, she watched in silence while stood behind the Hokage and it came as no surprise to her that the young Uchiha had won. At this she excused herself from the Hokage's box and met up with Kakashi and Sasuke ready to seal the curse, Iyari placed her hands on Sasuke's shoulders as Kakashi performed the hand signs before touching the seal, Sasuke screamed in pain until eventually he collapsed in Iyari's arms.

"You know that seal won't stop him from coming to me, you knew this from the second he received it that he will go looking for power," the voice came from Orochimaru who stood staring at Sasuke. "You know he will come to me one way or another."

Iyari glared up at him but the usual smirk stayed upon his face causing her to sigh and look down at the boy in her arms, she didn't want him to leave she didn't want to lose anyone else that was what she was scared of because in her eyes Sasuke was all she really had left.

"I see you're still alive, I may have use of you yet," Iyari shot a glare up at him.

"The only reason I would ever be in your presence would be to protect Sasuke," Iyari said gently moving the stray hairs out of his face.

"That's what you may think my dear but until then," at that Orochimaru left and Iyari stood up ready to take Sasuke to the hospital.

"Did you mean that?" Kakashi asked as the pair began to walk towards the hospital.

"I promised on the day of the clans funeral that I would always protect him, I'm practically family what else would I do," Iyari said. "I couldn't leave him besides what future would I have here?"

"Iyari you're a good ninja, the Hokage trusts you a lot, it's not hard to say you're one of the villages best ninja," Kakashi smiled at her only for Iyari to frown, they dropped Sasuke off before they returned to the arena in silence as Iyari thought about his words.


	5. Chapter 5

Iyari Ryakushi vs. Obito Uchiha

Iyari grinned at her friend whom she was having to battle, should she win she would go onto the final battle and hopefully become a chunin, she grinned up into the crowds where Itachi sat smiling at her she waved slightly before jumping down into the arena.

"Okay, as you know anything goes, should anyone from your team get in the way you will be automatically disqualified," the pair nodded at the sand ninja. "Okay begin."

Obito began by throwing a kunai at her which she easily dodged, she caught one of them and threw it back in his direction, not paying any attention to this Obito became surprised by the fact that the kunai had sliced his headband off. Iyari grinned at him but he yet again jumped straight for her and yet again she dodged his attack and threw her senbon at him, Obito had his eyes closed at this point and when he opened them he was amazed he was still alive.

"Hah! You missed!" Obito yelled he tried to move only to realise the senbon were holding his shoes to the ground, he looked up at her to find her creating hand signs, and then he really began to panic.

"Are you ready to feel the heat?" looking into her eyes he noticed a red chakra begin to glow and that's when he noticed the chakra strings attached to her senbon as the chakra reached him his entire body began to heat up from the inside out, his eyes creamed out for her to stop but the second she did she pulled out all the heat at once.

Everyone stared as Obito collapsed to the floor feeling faint, Iyari then performed new hand signs and placed her finger on his temples, a scream erupted from his mouth causing everyone's hands to hold their ears.

"Iyari stop!" the voice came from Obito's sensei and with that Iyari quickly cancelled her Jutsu.

Iyari watched sadly as Obito was taken away on a stretcher but her sensei placed his hand on her shoulder and leads her away from the arena where people were shouting out to her, she didn't notice that a certain Uchiha had left the stands at that point.

"Is Obito going to be okay?" Iyari asked.

"Iyari you don't need to worry he'll be fine," her sensei smiled at her before pulling her into a hug. "Good job Iyari."

"Iyari!" looking up she saw her two closest friends Itachi and Shisui running towards her congratulating her.

"Everyone's getting the feeling that you're going to be made Chunin, imagine that you're even younger than Kakashi was," Shisui smiled.

"Shisui shouldn't we get back up there? You still have your own match to worry about," the team's sensei smiled and then left leaving Iyari and Itachi alone together.

"You did really good, even my dad was complimenting your style and how quickly you executed your jutsu, I think there was much surprise that you beat an Uchiha," Itachi admitted looking at her.

"Oh well, just one more to go I'm either against Shisui or that sand ninja," Iyari smiled at Itachi. "Just think Itachi I'm slowly catching up."

"Yeah good luck with that," Iyari grinned at his response. "Anyway fancy come round the compound tomorrow I'm sure everyone will be happy to see you."

"Okay, I just Obito is okay by then," Iyari said worriedly.

"Iyari you don't need to worry so much Obito clearly didn't have his head in the game but you know what they say third times the charm," Itachi said smiling lightly at her.

"I know just I know how badly he wanted this, he wanted to show Kakashi up a bit," Iyari muttered.

"One day Kakashi will respect him; it just takes time you know what Kakashi is like."

"Yeah a pain!" Iyari stated folding her arms. "That kid needs to lighten up a little."

"Yeah I know Iyari you complain about him pretty much every day," Itachi grinned, before taking her hand.

"Come on let's watch Shisui and see who you're up against," Itachi ran dragging Iyari along with him up to the stands.

The next day seemed pretty normal to start with, as usual Iyari spent all morning hunting around her flat for clean clothes, she left and ran into Kakashi literally much like every other morning, and then he'd give her a lecture, call each other a few names and then set off to the Uchiha compound. Iyari spent most of her time there, over the years she had naturally become known with a lot of the people who knew Itachi, but she was mainly known for how troublesome her, Shisui and Obito could be, they did play a few too many pranks on other members of the clan.

"Good morning Iyari," Iyari waved at the old couple that owned a flower shop, the old man ran inside before throwing a paper bag at her.

"Here you go, don't eat them all at once," the man yelled smiling at her.

"I won't sir," Iyari smiled and pulled out one of the delicious honey oat cookies that the pair were famous for before making her way to Itachi's house.

She knocked on the door before revealing Itachi's mother to whom she bowed to.

"Good morning," she smiled down at her before welcoming her in, sat on the floor was Itachi's younger brother Sasuke and sat on the couch was Itachi and Shisui.

"Hey, any news on Obito?" Iyari asked only for them both to shake their heads.

"He's fine Iyari he'll be back home by tomorrow," the voice came from Itachi's father whom she also bowed to; he smiled at her formality before walking past her to the kitchen. "You don't need to worry so much."

"I know sir, just-"

"Iyari you need not be soft on an opponent, when it comes to you taking on even harder missions you must be ruthless."

"Yes sir," Iyari's eyes stayed on the floor.

"Besides the village has very high hopes for you, who would have thought when you family were killed we presumed that you wouldn't become a ninja but here you are," Iyari sighed slightly, she couldn't remember anything about her family yet it seemed as if the Uchiha could.

"I don't see why everyone has such high hopes for me," Iyari said.

"Because you're a gifted ninja and great asset to any team, you beat an Uchiha as a genin that is no easy feat you should congratulate yourself more," Iyari smiled at him before he left the room.

"Take no notice for what he said about your family Iyari, he forgets sometimes," Itachi's mum left the room after him.

"So what's the plan for today," Shisui broke then ten minute silence and the group laughed and left the compound ready to have a good day.


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: I know I should have pointed this out earlier but I have changed the age of the characters to ensure that certain events can happen, Itachi and Iyari are both 19, the clan was destroyed when they were 14 and in shippuden they will both be 22 so it's only 1 year gap. As for Kakashi he is 23 currently, 18 when the Uchiha clan was destroyed and 26 in shippuden, hope this sorts any questions out, and thank you for the reviews…please no flames thank you.

Iyari sighed, for the next month she was going to be in charge of changing the security ready for the finals, this was due to Orochimaru's surprise appearance at the exams the village couldn't really take any risk just in case there was something else he could possibly be after. Anko had been taken in for questioning which she wasn't overly impressed about but they believed her and she didn't get into too much trouble, however it was safe to say no one was particularly happy that she didn't call for back-up.

Iyari hoped that in a month will all of his new training Sasuke could possibly become a Chunin, he came out of hospital same as usual and she had heard that Kakashi had started his training, but he had two members of his team with a chance of making Chunin, Naruto defeated his opponent and was currently being trained by Jiraiya. Eventually Iyari reached her destination, one of the many ANBU bases, she released the genjutsu and made her way inside, it was dark to begin with until she reached the hidden door , once opened she entered a very well lit room, a man walked over to her and she handed him the new security plans.

"Do you ever think you'll be coming back to us anytime?" Iyari merely nodded before turning to take her leave. "We all miss you."

"Eventually I'll be back," Iyari said before leaving the room, she didn't really miss being the captain of an ANBU team but it kept her busy and helped to pay for necessities.

"Hey Iyari?" Naruto asked, unfortunately for Iyari Kakashi had invited her to a meal with his team which basically ended up being an answer and question session for her which made Kakashi laugh under his mask earning him many glares from his younger friend.

"Yes Naruto?" Iyari answered eating her food.

"What happened to your team?" Naruto asked looking up at her.

"Well my team was made up of a guy called Kolan Itamashi, Shisui Uchiha and our sensei Ourobi Uchiha, now Kolan died in the second part of the Chunin exams when we were attacked by ninja from the stone village, he didn't pay too much attention to his surroundings when he fought and just jumped in there. However, ninja from the stone use surroundings to enhance their abilities causing his imminent death, Shisui was allegedly killed by our best friend about a month before the clan's massacre in which our sensei was killed in."

"So your team was mainly Uchiha?" Sakura questioned.

"That's right, I had always been close to the Uchiha family so our sensei figured we'd all work well together, since I passed at a young age and the Uchiha were the strongest clan it seemed like the best chance of me not getting killed you could say. However, as I said Kolan was very foolish, he always jumped into action expecting me and Shisui to get him out of trouble, but when we did our exams even if your team was missing a member you could still take part in the 3rd part. Shisui and I had been friends since academy though, we had always worked well together be it pranks or missions," Iyari laughed lightly as she thought back.

"So you must have known Sasuke's brother?" Naruto blurted out causing Sasuke to stand up only to have Iyari sit him back down again.

"Yes, Itachi and I were the closest of friend, us and Shisui were an inseparable group, as I said before Shisui was killed before the massacre and Itachi was the prime suspect however it was dropped and left at him committing suicide, but still me and Itachi remained friends until the night of the massacre." The group stared at her but she looked no different and finished of her food before placing her money down on the table and making her way out.

"Iyari sensei," Iyari turned and looked at Naruto. "I'm sorry I asked."

"Don't be," Iyari just turned and left slowly, she looked up at the grey sky and blinked as a raindrop hit her face, she kept her eyes on the ground and she walked thinking back on her past, it wasn't that often that she did as it was painful to think on.

"You know you'll catch a cold wandering in the rain like that," Kakashi muttered, Iyari had found her way to the KIA stone and she just dropped down to her knees and looked at the names. "Iyari are you okay?"

"I'll be fine, I guess the Chunin exams reminded me of how much I miss them," her eyes lingered on Obito's name before moving to Shisui's.

"I know what you mean, watching Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura grow is painful," Kakashi admitted resting his hand on Iyari's shoulder.

"Obito and Naruto are very similar don't you think?" Iyari looked up at Kakashi her eyes wide as refused to cry.

"I guess so," Kakashi smiled and knelt down with her showing respect for those who had died.

_"Hey Iyari guess what?" Obito said jumping up and down enthusiastically._

_"Erm…you're pregnant?" Iyari suggested earning a glare of Obito._

_"Nope, I'm going on my first mission without a sensei tomorrow, I can finally prove myself to Rin isn't that amazing?" Obito grinned at her._

_"I'm so happy for you Obito; you best do me proud out there yeah?" Iyari grabbed her friend and hugged him tightly._

_"So anyway I was wondering if you wanted to walk with me towards the gates." Iyari nodded and the pair walked around the village, half way round Obito went into a shop and handed Iyari a sticky rice ball. "I owed you one from last year."_

_"Thanks Obito," as the pair reached the gates Iyari say his team she smiled at them all and turned towards Obito._

_"Tell you what, I have a new cake recipe at home and some very expensive tea, when you get home we'll have some, my way of celebrating," Obito nodded smiling brightly at her, the two hugged one last time before he ran to his team._

_Around two weeks had passed and Iyari was smiling to herself as she poured tea into a flask ready for her and Obito to drink when he returned, she carefully placed four slices of her cake into a tub and then placed them both in her kunai pouch, eventually she made her way to the gates and sat there waiting for their return, around half an hour passed before Iyari saw the distinctive haircut and colour of Obito's sensei._

_"Obito!" she yelled running towards them, Kakashi looked up as she reached the group. "Where's Obito?"_

_"Iyari-"Kakashi started._

_"Oh I get it, he's hiding typical," Iyari smiled pouring two cups of tea out. "Come on Obito I have the tea and cake like I promised it's time to celebrate."_

_"Iyari, he isn't here," Rin whispered her voice slightly breaking._

_"What do you mean?" Iyari's face remained hopeful._

_"Iyari I'm sorry," Kakashi's eyes looked straight into her and her hand began to shake. "Obito was crushed when a cave we were in collapsed."_

_A tear slowly made its way down her face as she remained in the exact same spot even after the funeral had ended, all her friends had left leaving her there with Obito's team, Minato nudged Kakashi who slowly walked over to her and pulled her into a hug, Iyari shook as she stopped herself from crying._

_"Would you like me to walk you home?" Kakashi offered, Iyari nodded to him but before she left she pulled her flask out and placed the two cups of tea by the stone and two slices of cake._

_"Good job Obito," she whispered._

_"I'll walk you both back," Minato said and Iyari looked up at him and nodded._

_As she arrived back at her flat she held her breath slightly as she opened the door, her flat was covered in all kind of bright decorations and a large banner hung up, Iyari's fists shook as she glared down at the floor, all of a sudden she screamed and lashed out at the decorations in the room causing her to smash she glasses that lay by the sink. By the end of it Iyari was being restrained by Kakashi while Minato was trying to stop the bleeding in her hands._

_"Kakashi get her back to yours and calm her down, can she stay over?" _

_It only took 15 minutes for the pair to get there and as they got inside Kakashi sat Iyari down and started to tend to her wounds before he would sit down and talk to her, Iyari eventually fell asleep but Kakashi didn't want to leave, he wanted to cheer her up mainly because he blamed Obito's death on himself._

Iyari smiled up at Kakashi, there on the stone sat two cups of tea steam still rising off them and the usual two pieces of cake, she had done this every year and that year would be no different.


	7. Chapter 7

"How's Sasuke's training going?" Iyari asked as she and Kakashi made their way towards to the Hokage's tower.

"It's going well, I'm teaching him Chidori at the moment," Iyari smiled.

"Dare I ask how the curse is?" Iyari muttered.

"No different," Kakashi frowned, his eye seemed to plead with her not to leave if Sasuke did but Iyari ignored it. "Iyari-"

"Kakashi, please let's just leave it," her head turned to look at him to which he nodded, upon reaching the tower Kakashi waiting outside as Iyari made her way in.

"Ah Iyari I have a mission for you to do," Iyari stared at the Hokage surprised, after all she hadn't been on a mission in a long time. "I need you to travel to the sound village and take these documents to their leader right hand, its information on the Chunin exams currently ranked at a C."

"How come you need me to do it?" Iyari questioned, a C ranked mission could easily be completed by a Chunin team.

"As of yet we've never had a ninja visit the village so we don't know what to expect, but delivering these documents to any other village would be a C."

"Okay then," Iyari took the papers and a scroll with mission info on it and turned to leave.

"You know I usually wouldn't bother you with this but with the exams going on everyone is busy," the Hokage explained, Iyari just turned and smiled at him.

"I need to get back into it anyway, how's after the exams sound," the Hokage beamed at her as she left calling Kakashi into the room next, Iyari couldn't believe that she had agreed to go back into ANBU after the exams all she hoped was that Sasuke would be Chunin by then otherwise she'd find it difficult to keep an eye on him.

Iyari spent the night studying every part of the mission, she would have two others alongside her just in case they came into trouble, they were Kotetsu and Izumo both were Chunin and older than she was and from what she could remember of them they were both skilled, she studied the map and discovered an easy route through to the village, instead of going straight through the fire she decided to go through the Hot Springs country. After sorted out the route she got a rough idea of how long she would be away and her results came back as she'd be away for just over a week should things go to plan sighing she packed away everything she would need and then settled herself into bed.

Iyari woke early at around half 5 so she could double check everything and then inform Sasuke of her mission, she set off to his at around half 6 that morning and made sure to knock on the door loudly just in case he was asleep, Iyari could hear rusting from the other side of the door and then it opened to reveal a very scruffy haired Sasuke which instantly made her laugh.

"What do you want?" Sasuke asked glaring at her for laughing.

"Just thought I'd let you know that I'm going to be away on a mission to the sound for the next week and a bit," Iyari said as he allowed her inside.

"Wait wasn't Orochimaru from the sound," Sasuke pointed out.

"Yes, but since he is keeping his eyes on Konoha I should have no problem getting there and leaving the Chunin information for whoever works for him," Iyari stated grinning at him. "Besides it'll be nice to get out of here for a bit."

"If you say so," Sasuke mumbled. "Don't die."

"I'm not going to," Iyari said seriously. "Anyway I had better be off I'll see you at the exams."

Iyari got up and made her own way towards the door before noticing how quiet Sasuke was, her eyes flickered in his direction only to notice that his hand remained on the curse mark.

"Even if you leave Sasuke I will follow," Sasuke's eyes looked up at her. "I will protect you for as long as you need me that includes going with you to Orochimaru, I swore to you that I would."

"But why?"

"You are family Sasuke, always have been to me I've watched you grow up and I intend to be there every step of the way."

"But you could die."

"That's a risk every ninja makes, but just don't think on it you have the exams coming up and your training should be more important," Iyari saluted before leaving the house.

Iyari was the first to reach the gates and she stood there waiting for the others to arrive, but eventually she became impatient she had wanted to set off as early as possible and wanted everything to go to plan.

"Hey Iyari," looking up she saw Kotetsu and Izumo waving at her cheerfully but soon stopped when they saw her face.

"You're late," she stated causing the two to gulp. "Now here is the plan, we are going to go through the Hot Springs Country so we are not to get noticed by Orochimaru who we presume is lingering around the village and then make our way to the sound, be cautious when we reach the sound as we do not know the village well. It should take 4 days to get to the village and we will halt every night by midnight to rest up okay?"

"Yes!" The two said and then they left through the tree's for the first few hours they stayed in the same formation of Iyari at the front, Izumo in the middle and Kotetsu taking up the rear, then at around mid-day the group halted and jumped to the ground by a river to have some food.

Iyari created the fire and then left the others to make the food, Iyari had sensed another person's Chakra the entire way and she left to group to search around the area but unfortunately the Chakra had gone all she could hope was that she was wrong, slowly she made her way back to the group where a small pot of soup lay waiting for her. The group sat there for around an hour filling up their water bottles and storing the leftovers in a flask, it was the one thing that made her happy about the pair was their knowledge on keeping alive, she had been paired up with them a few times on missions but that was it they didn't speak outside of that.

The group got back into the same formation and carried on towards the point that Iyari had marked on their map, this point would be where they would spend the night and Iyari was keeping watch, just as it got to the point where you couldn't see a thing the group arrived and instantly a fire was made, the pair began to bicker with each other until finally the tea was made, straight after eating the pair went to sleep and Iyari jumped into a tree in order to keep watch.

That was when she felt it again the same chakra only closer, Iyari jumped up hand held in her bag holding her senbon gently in her hand ready for a fight with the intruder, a sudden snap to her left caught her attention and as she was about to jump down a hand gripped her mouth and held her against the tree. Her eyes tried to see who the intruder was but she couldn't tell all she knew was that he was of a high rank, her immediate thought was Orochimaru and as the dark hair blew into her vision she was surprised to see who it belonged to, the hand holding her mouth loosened slightly causing her only to stare.

"Itachi."


	8. Chapter 8

Iyari's eyes didn't move from his face, he hadn't changed much the only thing that had obviously changed was the look she got from his eyes, they were dark and hollow making Iyari feel as if she hadn't ever really known him, he however didn't move he just stayed still observing her until finally her spoke.

"It's been a long time Iyari," these words caused Iyari to snap out of whatever trance she had currently been in and instantly reach towards her weapons pouch. "I wouldn't be doing that."

Almost immediately he was right behind her hand holding her wrist stopping her from retrieving her weapon, she could feel his breath lightly against her ear and this bothered her, she was a fast ninja and never had problems with avoiding being trapped like she was currently. But she supposed that had always been her problem with Itachi no matter what he would always win, even in childish game when they were little, but they were no longer little and Itachi was a wanted criminal and not her friend.

"Itachi, why are you here?"

The cold silence that followed made her realise that she was stupid to believe he would actually answer her straight off, as he moved away she took her chance and retrieved her senbon and threw it in his direction but a sudden pain in her thigh seemed to bring her into reality, looking down she saw her own senbon embedded deeply in her leg. She removed it and looked up but all she saw was the trees and nothing else, had she dreamt it? Iyari didn't want to think about it any longer and slowly made her way back to the group; she kicked Izumo who grunted as he woke up and looked up at her questioningly.

"You need to keep watch I'm not feeling great," he didn't question her and jumped into the tree, slowly Iyari sank against one of the trees and closed her eyes but even as she drifted off she couldn't shake the look in his eyes, it haunted her as she slept which wasn't very long.

"Iyari," she heard Kotetsu's voice and slowly opened her eyes, the light caused her to shut them almost immediately until she was ready to open them again. "You ready to set out?"

"Yeah," Iyari rubbed her eyes and then blinked until her vision was clear again before the group set out again, she was happy that they were ahead of schedule to arrive in the village the next day however since they were nearing the hot springs she figured they may as well rest there for the night.

Yet again the group was silent, they only talked small about things they had seen along the way, to Izumo and Kotetsu the silence was killing them but Iyari was happy to be alone with her thoughts so she could clear up what had happened the previous night, what had Itachi been doing there and why didn't he respond to anything she had said. She allowed herself to glance at the small wound in her leg which had unfortunately been deeper than she had first thought; she had bandaged the wound up well however she knew that it would need some immediate attention which was far beyond her simple healing skills.

"Wait," Kotetsu's whisper broke her thought and the group came to a halt before hiding themselves higher up in the trees, below them stood a group of sound ninja but none of them could figure out what they would be doing near the Hot Springs.

The group waited for the ninja to pass before leaping carefully between the trees making their way yet again to the village this time however the group was more talkative.

"What do you suppose they're doing here?" Kotetsu asked.

"I'm not too sure but something must have ruffled Orochimaru's feathers for him to come snooping around here, clearly they were expecting someone, but who I don't know but judging from the simple trap it would be a lower rank of ninja or not even a ninja at all."

"I suppose were going to have to be more careful then?"

"Yes, it will unfortunately mean we won't be arriving to the Hot Springs any sooner than estimated so much for us being ahead of schedule, not that it matters just stay sharp at any sign of trouble signal to the rest of the group, understood?"

"Yeah," the two replied and they returned to the lower branches and continued being cautious to anything around them, around 2 hours passed before Iyari could sense Izumo's chakra becoming weak, she slowly raised her hand signalling for them to stop.

"We'll rest up here for a bit, so gather our strength I'm just going to find water, whatever you do don't leave this spot," Iyari left the group in search for a river which happened to be closer than she thought, she searched around a bit before dropping down from the tree.

Slowly she removed the bandage from her leg and dipped it in the river removing all the blood that was currently staining it then she applied the wet cloth to her leg gently rubbing off the dried in dirt and blood that was covering her wound, Iyari noticed a small amount of puss leaving the wound an obvious sign of infection. Had they been at the Hot Springs it wouldn't have bothered her quite as much but this could slow them down even more and would cause the team to ask her questions and she wasn't too sure how she'd answer them, after washing it she gently applied another bandage and then filled her small bottle with the water before making her way back.

"Finally what took you so long?" Kotetsu questioned, Izumo was currently perched on another branch higher up.

"Sorry was just studying the map," Iyari lied, however she didn't have time to regret her lie as Izumo moved his legs back and forth and a large click was heard, he had tripped a wire.

Iyari leapt up dodging the kunai and other various weapons that had been part of the tap, with the trap sprung it would only be a matter of seconds until the ninja whom had set it arrived, Kotetsu glared at his team mate before joining Iyari.

"So what's the plan?" no sooner had the words left Kotetsu's mouth enemies appeared around them.

"We fight!"


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: I know it's been a while since i've updated so sorry, please review it makes me post new chapters quicker but no flames thankyou very much!

The battle didn't last too long and the three of them won becoming victorious however upon looking at the band on their heads the team looked at each other, Kotetsu and Izumo looked at her questioning what they should do next.

"We need to head back to the leaf, if these are the people waiting here for us as we get closer towards the village it will only worsen, the Hokage will understand," Iyari muttered softly, the pair looked at her and nodded in agreement.

The group continued their way back to the leaf through the night ensuring they reached the Hokage as early as possible, it would also mean less time for Iyari's wound to get infected, in total they ran for 2 days until they reached the village causing surprise for the Hokage as they appeared back in his office. Upon explaining it to him he nodded before looking out the window, he dismissed the other two and then stared at her.

"I see you ran into something unexpected?" the Hokage motioned towards her wound. "I suggest you keep it to yourself and take yourself to the medical Nin and let them sort it out for you."

Iyari nodded towards him and then left the room, she sighed to herself wondering if the Hokage actually knew who it was that had attacked her, even as she lay letting the ninja heal her leg she couldn't help but think back to their meeting, he hadn't changed much over the years just his eyes. At one point they held warmth and happiness but that had all been drained from them, he no longer seemed to care like he once had, but that was to be expected by a wanted criminal such as him and that was all he was now, just a wanted criminal.

_"Itachi please tell me it wasn't you who killed Shisui?" Iyari said following him back to the compound._

_"Iyari, please just leave it," he looked over at her eyes looking hurt, pain that made her just want to pull him into an embrace._

_"I'm sorry," her eyes fell to the ground disappointed in her but looked up as Itachi rested his hand on her shoulder._

_"Don't be, I miss him too don't forget now let's go," Itachi smiled at her and she responded with her usual grin as the two walked to his house where they were greeted by his mother._

She supposed it had all just been a lie, a way of making her trust him just for that while longer and it had worked and in a way she missed their friendship it was one she hadn't had with anyone before and one that she never would have with anyone again. As the sky began to darken Iyari slowly made her way home, shaking her sandals off she settled down into the small couch no sooner had she settled a knock was heard on the door, grumbling she opened it to reveal Sasuke slightly battered from his training.

"Do you mind if I come in for a bit?" he muttered and she nodded letting him in surprised that he was also followed by Kakashi who nodded towards her.

Sasuke's eyes wandered around her house falling on a row of pictures dotted across a shelf, the first was a picture of Iyari as a baby being held by a male and a female, her parents which she knew for a grand total of 14 days, the second a picture of a young Iyari stood alongside an older Ibiki practically the person who raised her. The rest were pictures of her team and her friends, his eyes stopped on one in particular showing a 10 year old Iyari and Itachi pulling faces at the camera with his mum looking displeased in the background, she coughed lightly and then his eye shifted to the last two a more recent one showed a picture of Iyari, Kakashi, Asuma and Kurenai at a fancy restaurant and the last was picture of her and Sasuke on his first day of academy.

"So what is it you wanted?" Iyari asked Kakashi.

"Thought you would like to know that Sasuke can now use Chidori," Iyari grinned at Sasuke who smirked up at her.

"Nice job there," she grabbed hold of his and rustled his hair causing him to fight to break loose.

"What are you doing back so early anyway?" Sasuke asked as he finally broke free.

"The mission had some complications turned out they were expecting us and it was better to return to the village that leave to a place where the team would be at risk," Iyari replied and Kakashi nodded at her.

"You know you should go back home and rest, training still continues tomorrow," Kakashi said and Sasuke nodded towards his sensei and left and then Kakashi turned his serious face on as he looked back over at Iyari. "What happened with Itachi?"

"So the Hokage told you huh? Well not much I could feel a chakra that wasn't normal in the area and way too strong to just be a sound genin or even Chunin as a left to find the source I originally thought it could be Orochimaru but as it turned out Itachi was there, he didn't say anything just stood there."

"So you have no idea why he was near the village?"

"Not a clue, it could be the Chunin exams but why that would bring him here I don't know but I don't think he was alone, the clothes he was wearing seemed to tie him to a group I've heard rumours about, if that's true his team mate couldn't have been far behind but when he left I couldn't feel a thing."

Kakashi sat himself down on the couch and thought for a moment before sighing and looking back towards Iyari whose eyes remained on the picture of her and Itachi but knowing she was being looked at she turned away from them.

"So would you like to stay for food? I'll only be making noodles if that's okay?" Kakashi nodded and then followed into her kitchen to start making 2 cups of tea which she thanked him for and soon the pair were sat together eating and talking about past memories with each other.

"Sasuke should do pretty well in the exams; I was amazed he picked up the Chidori quite so quickly."

"I hope so I'm also hoping he doesn't get too cocky though, I mean that kid he's up again is tough perhaps the toughest we've had here in a while that kid could easily be ranked higher than a genin!"

"From what I've heard he's the Kazekage's child."

"So you mean?" Iyari stared open mouthed at Kakashi.

"Yes he's just like Naruto."

"Wow, how did you find all this out?"

"Well the Hokage was informing me that he is coming to visit for the finals," Kakashi said.

"Isn't that a bit odd, I mean we've never had another Kage visit for exams and just leave their village," Iyari pondered the thought but just ignored it and the pair cleaned everything up.

"Well I suppose I best be leaving, I'll see you at the finals Iyari," Kakashi smiled under his mask at her and she smiled back.

"Yes you will," as she closed the door she sighed and let her smiled fall and as she made her way over to her bedroom she reached over to the picture of her and Itachi and pushed it over before closing the door behind her.


End file.
